Here at St. Peter, we’re gearing up for Consecration Sunday next weekend. We’ll have a guest preacher from the synod talking about stewardship, followed by a Celebration Lunch for the whole congregation. In preparation for that, here’s my best Lutheran stewardship sermon!
This sermon is on the RCL’s assigned Gospel text for this 25th Sunday after Pentecost, Mark 12:38-44. I particularly appreciated Emily Martin’s November 9th God Pause devotional, and Sarah Watts’ commentary at Modern Metanoia. This was also Veterans Day, so we included a special confession and a litany from ELCA Chaplains.
Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
I’m going to be honest with you. This is an uncomfortable sermon, because I am uncomfortable talking about money in church. (Now you know this sermon is about money and you’re uncomfortable too!)
I understand that the Bible talks about money more than any other subject. I understand that the most common subject of Jesus’ parables was money. I believe our love for money and possessions as individuals and as a society is the biggest form of idolatry we’re dealing with.
But it’s terrifying for me to talk about money in church.
There is so much history of the church and pastors using the Bible to manipulate people into giving. Martin Luther’s first problem with the church of his day was the promise of forgiveness in exchange for donations.
Just a few months ago, there were news stories about a televangelist who asked his audience for $54 million dollars because he claimed God had told him to buy a new Falcon 7X jet – his fourth airplane.
There’s a whole movement called the prosperity gospel that claims if you give more, God will bless you more. If you believe hard enough, you can be rich, because God loves you and wants you to be happy and your prosperity will be a sign of God’s blessing. If you do enough, if you give enough, if you plant enough seeds by giving donations, you’ll be blessed with health and wealth.
As tempting and appealing as that prosperity gospel idea can sound, it’s not Biblical. When you hear something like that, ask who’s doing the work in it. You are! If you do this, if you give this, then you’ll manipulate God into doing this for you. It’s not faithful to give in order to get; it’s a way of manipulating people. It’s a cult tactic, not the gospel.
The Gospel is that Jesus loves you because Jesus loves you, not because of what you give or do. God’s grace is a free gift we cannot earn or merit.
But promising prosperity can sure be an effective fundraising tactic.
How can the church talk about money without manipulating people?
Stewardship books say that if I as the pastor can talk about money, then the congregation will be more comfortable talking about it, and it will be less of an idol. If I can talk about what I give, whether it’s a lot or a little, then I’ll be a good example and you’ll be moved to give, at least in theory.
I can talk about how I’ve been blessed by giving, how it feels good to give and use my money to help others, but there’s always going to be some hypocrisy there because my offerings are also paying my salary and Christin’s salary.
I do not want anyone in this church to ever say, “All the church wants is your money,” and yet, I really do believe stewardship is an essential component of faith.
Stewardship is our response to God’s grace. As someone once said, “Stewardship is everything we do after we say we believe.” All Christians are called to give, no matter how much or how little we have. Everybody has something to offer. I really believe that.
And that brings us to this text about the poor widow putting her two cents in. I was legitimately excited when I saw this was today’s assigned lectionary text. What could be better for a stewardship emphasis than a poor woman willing to give everything she has to the temple?
This is a great text on stewardship, but as it turns out, it’s a terrible text for fundraising.
Look at what Jesus is teaching his disciples. Beware, he says, of those religious people who like to go about in long robes, and be greeted with respect and get the best seats. Jesus is pretty harsh towards religious leaders and churches that use religion to profit off others, who devour widows’ houses and pray so others will hear them and admire their eloquence. It makes you wonder how this widow lost her house, and whether the religious leaders profited off it.
I said this is a good stewardship text, and it is, because stewardship is about what you do with the resources you have. Stewardship is about how you use your time, talent, and treasure. Stewardship is not about fundraising.
If it’s about fundraising, then it’s great that the widow gave everything she had and we should do the same so the church has money.
But if it’s about stewardship, then it’s more about those who have wealth than the poor widow. It’s not a call to give every last penny, but to give what we have so no one is so desperate to get down to their last two pennies.
Jesus criticizes the temple because the religious leaders, those who claimed to be the best at following God’s law, failed to live out their faith. They missed God’s call to help the poor. Over and over in the Bible, God demands the wealthy and those with power take care of the vulnerable, the orphans and the widows.
In the next few verses, Jesus will predict the destruction of the temple for failing to be generous towards others, for failing to be good stewards. The irony is that to be generous, the church needs resources.
We as Christians follow God’s command to care for those in need by our individual acts of service and by pooling our money together to make a difference. The church does not need your money because the church already has your money, because you are the church.
We are church together. We are Christ’s body. Ministries like Lutheran Disaster Response, or World Hunger, or LSI, or even the food bank or Sunday School are bigger than any of us can fund on our own. These ministries exist because we as Christians use the gifts God has trusted to us to do God’s work together.
The church should not be built on the backs of the poor, as generous as they might be. And if you look at charitable giving statistics, poor people are more likely to be generous, because they understand what it is to have need. They understand there is always someone worse off. They understand the difference even a little can make.
It’s so hard for me to point to this widow as an example, because none of us are in her situation. Giving everything is an impossible standard to live up to.
And yet, Jesus praises her gift. She understands the idea of sacrifice, the idea of radical dependence on God. She is a powerful example of faith, even if she’s also a tragic example. Or, perhaps she gives out of her abundance too. Perhaps she is excited because for the first time, she has something to offer, and she understands God can use even what little she has.
The point of our stewardship focus and the Consecration Sunday worship and meal next week is to provide an opportunity for you to answer the question, “What is God calling me to give?”
It’s not about getting everyone in the congregation to give $100 per week. For some of you, that would be impossible, and for some, you wouldn’t even notice it.
Jesus praises the woman’s gift because it’s a sacrifice, a gift proportionate to what she has, and he condemns the wealthy scribes because their much larger gifts are not any kind of a stretch for them at all. It’s just loose change for them, not an expression of faith.
The chart Jeff and Gale went over last week asks you to think about your giving as a percentage of your income. If you don’t have that chart, pick one up on your way out today. The Old Testament standard for giving is 10%, a tithe. That’s a lot for most people. So the challenge is to move up one step, to be intentional about your giving.
I care much more that all of us give something than about how much anyone gives. If everyone gave a dollar a week, we’d probably need to sell the building, but we’d be a far more spiritually healthy and generous congregation than if five people give a thousand dollars a week. It’s the attitude of generosity and stewardship that’s important, the willingness to depend on God.
I encourage you this week to find a few minutes to pray about and ask God what you are called to give. Talk to your spouse. Look at your income and your expenses and the percentage you’re giving and figure out if it’s where you intend.
But don’t give money to the church because you’re afraid of the church going broke (or any other kind of fear). Don’t give because you’re planting seeds to make God bless you – that’s a scam tactic based on greed.
Don’t give in order to get. Don’t give if it means you can’t feed your family. Don’t give so St. Peter’s bank account will grow and this building will be in good shape for your funeral. Don’t give because you feel guilty for not doing your part. Don’t give because you think God will love you more if you give more.
Do give because God has blessed you. Do give because you want to help others. Do give because you understand that everything you have is a gift given to you in trust by God.
Do give because you believe God intended you to use what you have to do good, to help others, and to build the kingdom of God, a kingdom where no one is in poverty. Whatever you give, do so knowing that God already loves you, and has given himself for you.
Amen